The Martian by Andy WeirMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
The book tells the story of Mark Watney, an astronaut left for dead in Mars. In his words:
“It was a ridiculous sequence of events that led to me almost dying. Then an even more ridiculous sequence that led to me surviving.”
It’s the early years of Mars exploration, humans have just reached it, and are doing some exploratory missions, very similar to the lunar missions. The author skips right over the question of why we went to Mars, and starts with the premise that we went, and are still sending a few more missions. An accident happens during the current mission, and one of the astronauts is left behind, his crew thinking he died. Now he is in Mars, alone, with very little supplies and no communication with Earth, and nobody knows he is alive! Somehow he must find a way to survive. Since it takes place in the near future, the book doesn’t have any apparent futuristic technology - some new materials used for construction, but everything else is pretty much current technology. It makes all the challenges and solutions very believable and relatable. The author goes to great lengths to describe the technical aspects of the problems that the Watney faces, and of the solutions he finds, but in a really interesting way - rather than dull commentary, he uses the descriptions as a way to build tension, or to make the action seem more fast-paced than it is (sounds counter-intuitive, but he really manages to do it). Watney is a really funny guy, and makes not only a great character but a great narrator. The book is quite an exciting and enjoyable adventure. It’s one of my favorite books in years.
(view spoiler)
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